Android and Development Tools

I think if I had my way, I would develop tools for developers most of the time. This would be a good implementation of Yegge’s “only build stuff for yourself” principle. The Android project catches my eye because it offers the possibility of being able to get rid of the Microsoft OS on my phone without having to buy a new phone. However, after looking at the site, I’m now more interested in the tools they’ve put together to aid this development.

The first is a tool called “repo”. It’s somewhat similar to a tool we use at work for managing our source repositories. It basically adds some higher level niceties to git and helping connect with code reviews. In addition, it interacts with a nice web-based UI for code reviews they’ve called “garrit”.

Garrit is kind of like a ticket tracker for submitting patches and works almost in reverse of the usual ticket tracker. Normally, you post a problem and then put together a solution. This tool lets you submit a solution and then lets the reviewers determine whether it’s a good idea or not. This is important for a project like Android where it will likely be common for someone to write a patch to get Android working for his particular phone or app and then submit it to the community for general inclusion. It supports the git model for development pretty well.

Anyway, I’m interested in Android and hope some smart folks with better C skills than me can make it work on my phone in the near future, but in the meantime, I think dev tools present some interesting ideas on their own.

Cheers.